P3_8 Elysium: How Fast Did the Atmosphere Escape?

H. W. Buttery, C. J. Middleton, C. D.Y. Moore, R. H. Peck

Abstract

In this paper, the rates at which the atmosphere of the roofless Elysium space-station would escape for var- ious atmospheric angular velocities were considered. The resulting relative mass flow rates were calculated to be between 3.6 × 10−5 - 2.4 × 10−4M/s. From these, the times over which the entire atmospheric mass, M, would be replenished ranged between 1.2 - 7.8 hours, leading to an impractical space-station.